A sweeping fantasy of magic, war, betrayal, and love is set in a world where Shakespeare’s characters dwell and Shakespeare himself is an absent god struggling with a heavy conscience. The second volume builds to the climactic finale of Hamlet’s quest to find the creator-god Shakespeare and return peace to a land torn apart by an evil army led by Richard III and Lady Macbeth. Joined by love interest Juliet, the warrior Othello, the wise fool Falstaff, and the spy Iago, Hamlet has built an army of rebels, the prodigals, who hold off their enemies while he searches for their creator. But even victory comes at a cost as friends and foes die in a great final battle. Belanger’s art rises to the challenge of this epic scale and creates truly impressive visuals. McCreery and Del Sol’s story has the unfortunate problem of inviting comparisons to Shakespeare. The number of characters included goes beyond the book’s ability to comfortably fit them all in. The story is more closely related to modern fantasy tales of great armies struggling as a prophesied hero leads events toward a massive last fight. (Nov.)